We take great pride in making our clients feel confident about their jobs during the production process. To help you gain a better understanding of what’s happening to your project, we’ve compiled a glossary of terms that we commonly use in our industry. If you have any further questions just call one of our customer service representatives, they will help you all the way through so you understand what is happening with you job.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Gang
(1) To halftone or separate more than one image in only one exposure. (2) To reproduce two or more different printed products simultaneously on one sheet of paper during one press run. Also called combination run.
Gate Fold
A sheet that folds where both sides fold toward the gutter in overlapping layers.
Ghosting
(1) Phenomenon of a faint image appearing on a printed sheet where it was not intended to appear. Chemical ghosting refers to the transfer of the faint image from the front of one sheet to the back of another sheet. Mechanical ghosting refers to the faint image appearing as a repeat of an image on the same side of the sheet.
(2) Phenomenon of printed image appearing too light because of ink starvation.
Gloss
Consider the light reflecting on various objects in the printing industry (e.g., paper, ink, laminates, UV coating, varnish).
Grade
General term used to distinguish between or among printing papers, but whose specific meaning depends on context. Grade can refer to the category, class, rating, finish or brand of paper.
Graduated Screen Tint
Screen tint that changes densities gradually and smoothly, not in distinct steps. Also called degrade, gradient, ramped screen and vignette.
Grain Direction
Predominant direction in which fibers in paper become aligned during manufacturing. Also called machine direction.
Grain Long Paper
Paper whose fibers run parallel to the long dimension of the sheet. Also called long grain paper and narrow web paper.
Grain Short Paper
Paper whose fibers run parallel to the short dimension of the sheet. Also called short grain paper and wide web paper.
Grammage
Basis weight of paper in grams per square meter (gsm).
Graphic Arts
The crafts, industries and professions related to designing and printing on paper and other substrates.
Graphic Design
Arrangement of type and visual elements along with specifications for paper, ink colors and printing processes that, when combined, convey a visual message.
Graphics
Visual elements that supplement type to make printed messages more clear or interesting.
Gravure
Method of printing using metal cylinders etched with millions of tiny wells that hold ink.
Gray Scale
Strip of gray values ranging from white to black. Used by process camera and scanner operators to calibrate exposure times for film and plates. Also called step wedge.
Gripper Edge
Edge of a sheet held by grippers on a sheet fed press, thus going first through the press. Also called feeding edge and leading edge.
Groundwood Paper
Newsprint and other inexpensive paper made from pulp created when wood chips are ground mechanically rather than refined chemically.
GSM
The unit of measurement for paper weight (grams per square meter).
Gutter
In the book arena, the inside margins toward the back or the binding edges.
Top of Page
